Sustainability

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, was interviewed onstage at Kresge Auditorium by Media Lab assistant professor Danielle Wood, who then took questions from the capacity audience.

Justin Trudeau: Embrace the rapid pace of change

At flagship Solve event, Canada’s prime minister urges audience to help shape the changes transforming society.

May 18, 2018

In January, Flux and the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team went on a road-testing trip in Georgia.

Powered by the sun

Flux, built by the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team, was recently unveiled at Johnson Rink in preparation for its participation in the American Solar Challenge.

May 16, 2018

The grand prize winner at this year’s MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition was Infinite Cooling, which is developing a system that captures and recycles vaporized water from thermoelectric power plants. Pictured here are the four Infinite Cooling team members, holding the big check (from left): Maher Damak, Karim Khalil, Kripa Varanasi, and Derek Warnick.

Device that recycles vaporized water from power plants wins MIT $100K

Eight teams pitched business ideas, and three took home cash prizes, at the annual entrepreneurship competition.

May 16, 2018

While all global climate models show an overall increase in surface temperatures over the coming decades, when it comes down to regional effects on temperature and rainfall there are areas of significant uncertainty.

Workshop explores intertwined future of food production, water, and climate

Choices by consumers and farmers can help limit global warming, but climate change may also curtail those choices in the future.

May 11, 2018

Participants from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan convened at MIT for a two-day event on the future of the Nile water, hosted by Professor Elfatih Eltahir.

A forum on the future of the Nile River

International workshop proposes future directions for long-standing conflict.

May 4, 2018

Dan Wexler (left) and Priya Patel of EatWell, which won the $15,000 grand prize at this year's Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize competition.

Prize-winning projects promote healthier eating, smarter crop investments

Meal kits for “food deserts” and crowdsourced crop-pricing platform win Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize.

May 4, 2018

Signifying the forest, the Climate Changed Symposium dinner appetizer was a trio of dried, preserved and foraged mushrooms — fungi known to help the soil store carbon dioxide and thus slow the pace of climate change.

What will we eat in the year 2050?

Climate Changed Symposium combines art and science to envision the global food system under climate change.

April 30, 2018

A team of researchers at MIT and elsewhere has come up with a way to figure out the best type of solar panel for a given location and type of installation.

How to assess new solar technologies

MIT analysis shows when and where advanced photovoltaics would be economic to install.

April 30, 2018

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will headline the 2018 Solve at MIT annual meeting on MIT's campus.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to headline Solve at MIT annual meeting

May 16-18 event, hosted by MIT Solve, will include remarks from Eric Schmidt, Ursula Burns, Yo-Yo Ma, and Luis Alberto Moreno, among other luminaries.

April 27, 2018

Grand prize winner of $15,000 at the annual MIT IDEAS Global Challenge showcase and awards ceremony went to Umbulizer, a team developing a low-cost, portable ventilator for patients in rural areas where medical resources are scarce and unreliable. Pictured is team member Moiz Imam, a senior in mechanical engineering at MIT, accepting the award from Kate Trimble, senior director of the Priscilla Ki...

IDEAS Global Challenge rewards inventions with social impact

At annual event, 10 teams split $92,500 in prize money for designing innovations that improve lives worldwide.

April 23, 2018

“In China, as you go to tighter and tighter climate policies, you continue to reduce pollutant emissions from coal, whereas the U.S. has already reduced a lot of its air pollution from coal through end-of-pipe technologies,” Karplus says.

Study: Health benefits will offset cost of China’s climate policy

A 4 percent reduction per year in carbon dioxide emissions should net $339 billion in health savings in 2030, researchers estimate.

April 23, 2018

Professor John Heywood is a leading expert on internal combustion engines. His seminal book, "Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals," has been revised in a second edition to reflect recent technological advances that make the internal combustion engine more efficient and environmentally friendly.

3Q: John Heywood on the future of the internal combustion engine

Professor of mechanical engineering explains the importance of advancing internal combustion engines and offers his take on recent EPA rollbacks.

April 18, 2018

“We’re really excited about bringing millennial revenue into rural America, and that is a very sustainable action,” says Sam McElhinney MBA '17, founder of Mayflower Venues.

Plan a wedding, save a farm

Sam McElhinney MBA '17 found a way to help New England small farms, family estates, and orchards by creating a system that enables them to host events easily.

April 18, 2018

Lithio Storage, a team from Tufts University and Northwestern University, won the top $100,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize (CEP) for developing an electrolyte that helps batteries withstand much broader temperature ranges, making them safer, more energy efficient, and cheaper to operate. Pictured is team member and inventor Anthony D’Angelo (right) with (from left) CEP co-managing directors Lisa Khan...

MIT Clean Energy Prize rewards student innovation

Robust batteries, solar refrigeration, UV membrane cleaner, and smart factory technologies take home $140,000 in prize money.

April 17, 2018

When going green is not black and white

In a new book, MIT professor Yossi Sheffi examines the trade-offs companies face when grappling with sustainability issues.